Chennai:
Union government is planning to set up a National Bureau
of Corrosion Control which will be modelled on the lines of Bureau of Energy
Efficiency, according to Union Chemicals and Petrochemicals secretary Surjit Kumar
Chaudhary.
Speaking during the three-day CORCON 2015, organised by National
Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International Gateway India Section
(NIGIS), Chaudhary said that the National Bureau of Corrosion Control is being
set up as part of strategic and
commercial dialogue with United States.
While Chaudhary refused to divulge the specifics about
the Bureau, it is learnt that the plan to set up the bureau was mooted after it
was found that the cost of corrosion in the economy is around three to four per
cent of country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is approximately worked
out to $70 billion.
The indirect cost of corrosion to the Indian economy is
equally high. Experts said that setting up of Bureau of Corrosion Control is part
of the National Chemical Policy which is in the final stages of approval.
Interestingly, US Commercial Service also pushed the idea
to set up Bureau of Corrosion Control following two commercial dialogues
between India and US. It is learnt that Ministry of Petrochemicals is the nodal agency for the project.
Besides promoting awareness about corrosion, the Bureau
would also education training programme.
It is believed that the Bureau would provide skills and
training to MSMEs which would trickle down to the lowest level.
He said growth of the country is linked to growth of
Chemicals and Petrochemicals industry and since it is linked to various walks
of life, the success of Make in India depends upon how supply of these
chemicals and petrochemicals could be improved.
The Bureau of Corrosion Control would be a public private
partnership and it will come up with standards which will be adopted by Bureau
of Indian standards.
Earlier, Chaudhary also said that as part of National
Chemical Policy, the department is proposing setting up a mission for alternate
source for feedstock and is in dialogue with Iran. “We plan to set a big
facility to make feedstock in Chabahar, Iran, which is almost 1,000 km from
chemical belt of south Gujarat and north Maharashtra,” said Chaudhary.
Industry has welcomed the move stating that the chemical
industry in India is decimated by Chinese imports and this would prove a
blessing in disguise
No comments:
Post a Comment